Data reflects the number of annual participants in the Richmond County Health Department Freshstart program In addition, the Richmond County Health Education Department maintains participant data under the Infant Mortality Grant.  

Program data is being collected at this time.  

• American Cancer Society Stay Away from Tobacco | American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer.

• Richmond County School System Richmond County Schools 

The school system teaches tobacco awareness and avoidance. Each school utilizes counselors and teaching staff to highlight N.C. curriculum standards and stand-alone activities to promote tobacco-free students.

• Region 6 Tobacco Collaboration

The collaborative works to improve the health of North Carolina residents by promoting smoke-free environments and tobacco-free lifestyles. Our goal is to build the capacity of diverse organizations and communities to implement and carry out effective, culturally appropriate strategies to reduce deaths and health problems due to tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

• Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program | Durham, NC (dukeunctts.com)

The Duke-UNC Comprehensive TTS Program combines findings from the most current evidence-based research on pharmacotherapy, population-based issues, practical guidance on running a practice, and targeted skills in tobacco dependence counseling. Through a combination of interactive, virtual sessions and online self-paced training, Duke-UNC TTS offers leading-edge, evidence-based continuing education in a fun and engaging online experience. Completion of this course fulfills the training requirement for the National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice (NCTTP), offered by the Association for Addiction Counselors (NAADAC).

• QuitlineNC QuitlineNC.com

We provide free cessation services to any North Carolina resident who needs help quitting commercial tobacco use, including all tobacco products offered for sale and not tobacco used for sacred and traditional ceremonies by many American Indian tribes and communities. Quit Coaching is available in different forms, which can be used separately or with another program to help any tobacco user give up tobacco.

• CATCH My Breath  CATCH My Breath E-Cigarette & JUUL Prevention

CATCH My Breath is a peer-reviewed, evidence-based youth vaping prevention program developed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. The program provides up-to-date information to teachers, parents, and health professionals to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about the use of e-cigarettes, including JUUL devices. CATCH My Breath utilizes a peer-led teaching approach and meets National and State Health Education Standards.

• North Carolina Healthy Beginnings Grant 

The Infant Mortality Reduction Program provides funding for education, support, and elimination of exposure to tobacco products to community members in assisting in the quitting of tobacco products (inclusive of electronic nicotine delivery systems) using the 5A’s (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange). Grants are awarded for three years and are administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Women’s and Children’s Health Section, Women’s Health Branch, Perinatal Health Unit.

• Healthy Communities DHHS: DPH: CDI: Healthy Communities (nc.gov)

The North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH) uses Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant funding to administer the Healthy Communities Program through the Chronic Disease and Injury (CDI) Section. This program aims to reduce the burden of chronic disease and injury in North Carolina. This funding enables county and district health departments to implement community-based interventions that address poor nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use, violence, and unintentional injury.

• Developing emphatic relationships with participants
• Activity options to work through cravings
• Free nicotine replacement therapies
• Education on the chemical withdrawal process
• Best practice counseling sessions
• Ongoing support even after the quit
• Motivational interviewing techniques
  • Feedback: Personalized information
  • Responsibility: Freedom of choice, individual’s responsibility for own health
  • Advice: Need for change delivered clear, supportive, concerned manner
  • Menu: Strategies for change offered in a varied (menu) format
  • Empathy: Empathetic, reflective, supportive style related to positive treatment outcomes
  • Self-efficacy: Participants' belief in their ability to change is essential 
• Understanding fundamentals of addiction

The Freshstart program strategy will consist of free weekly one-hour group visits for four weeks with a certified smoking cessation specialist. Each visit will consist of an educational component, the creation of an individualized quit plan and modifications, and behavioral interventions.  Group visits are closed meaning that all participants start and finish together.  Coping methods, brainstorming, role-playing, contingency plans, discussions, and relaxation techniques are critical in behavioral interventions.  Group visits provide a safe environment in which participants can express themselves and share their knowledge, experiences, and know that they are not alone in the struggle to quit smoking.  Group visits have been successful in that participants have the opportunity to share prior successful or unsuccessful techniques, challenges, and experiences which have led to increased quit rates (Zizi, 2016).  After the group visits have concluded, each participant will receive monthly follow-up phone calls for six months to collect information about smoking behavior and to provide support, and keep participants motivated to stay quit.  

Freshstart also offers private confidential individual sessions with a certified smoking cessation specialist due to the stigma of smoking. Participants may want to keep their smoking addiction private.  These sessions are based on motivational interviewing techniques for treating tobacco use and dependence.  The first session is one-on-one with the subsequent sessions being by phone or in-person as preferred by the participant.  Each session will contain goals for the participants to accomplish before the next meeting and focus on reducing the number of cigarettes, not vaping, exercise, and stress management. After the individual sessions have concluded, each participant will receive monthly follow-up phone calls for six months to provide support and keep participants motivated.    

Zisi, V., Gratsani, S., Leontari, D. and Theodorakis, Y. (2016). Combining Individual and Group Counselling Sessions in a Smoking Cessation Intervention. Psychology, 7, 1766-1784. https://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2016.714165